UEW, KNUST, UGBS in Tertiary Business Sense Challenge final tomorrow

After four months of battle of business acumen and wits involving 36 prime tertiary business schools in the country, three schools have made it through the intense and laborious stages of the competition to the grand finale of the sixth edition of the Graphic Business Tertiary Business Sense Challenge (TBSC) slated for the GNAT Hall in Accra tomorrow.

The defending champions-- University of Education Winneba (UEW), the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS)-- will engage one another for supremacy in a pulsating business theory and practice knowledge challenge not only for the bragging rights, but also for the juicy prizes at stake.

All three schools came out of very tough duels to top their respective zones of the competition sponsored by MTN Ghana, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), GLICO Group, Compu Ghana, GOIL PLC and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).

Defending trophy

For Fiadufe Defor Success, a lead contestant for UEW, the defending champions, a keen competition awaited them but he was hopeful the team would defend their title.

“We are going to defend our title, it is going to be a keen contest but I know we will come out victorious," he told the Daily Graphic yesterday.

He said he had witnessed the resolve and tenacity of UGBS and KNUST to win, but together with his mates, Joshua Agbowada, Felix Blay Amoako and Aaron Kojo Fiati, they were more determined to become the first school to defend the trophy.

“We are very well prepared and ready for all the five rounds of the competition, we can’t be more prepared than today, our lives depend on it and the school’s reputation is at stake,’ he noted.

For Peter Emeka Ike, the team leader of UGBS, they have other ideas and had strategised to maintain their composure, stay calm under pressure and execute a surprise in the first two rounds of the contest to provide them the grounds to win their first TBSC tomorrow.

"We intend to outwit our opponents with smart calculations in the first two rounds and dominate in the third round to stand a chance of winning the trophy for the first time," he told the Daily Graphic.

However, Japheth Adeleke of KNUST believes KNUST is ready for its second title of the annual competition.

"We expect nothing but the best to win by God's grace and we are just hoping we answer all the questions in all the rounds correctly, the rest we leave it to God," he told the Daily Graphic.

UGBS to cause a shocker

UGBS, the third school to make it to the final, is the only school among the three that has not won the competition and it is also its first in the final.

The school believes that with its quartet of Lawrencia Nelson, Obed Eyiah Arhin, Manasseh Amoah and Abdul Samed-Abdulahi it can claim its first trophy since the competition began in 2019.

“Basically, we are solving as many questions as possible, our focus is on all the rounds, we are working to do better in each round,” Coach of the school, Dan Owusu Amponsah, told the Daily Graphic.

He also praised the knowledge of the four students representing the school and gave credit to patrons of the school for their support.

KNUST rolls back years

The 2022 champions, KNUST, a crack two-man team of Lord Kelvin Kofi Atisu and Kelvin Nketiah Sarfo of the business department of the school, have been selected to coach the quintet of Divine Kpodo, Samuel Bimpong, Japhet Adeleke, Osei Ampofo Twum and Kwadwo Acheampong to bring the trophy back home.

“For the final we expect an intense competition with a few surprises along the way; we are however poised to match our opponents boot for boot and round for round up to the very last question, we anticipate to shock our competitors,” Mr Atisu said.

Quizmaster

Quizmaster Alhassan Trawule believes the three finalists are the best in the various stages of the competition, saying “this is going to be tough, I see the three schools equally matched and aiming for history,” he said.

Engaging, insightful

The Director of Sales and Marketing of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd, organisers of the competition, Franklin Sowa, said this year’s contest had been the most engaging and insightful.

“From the campuses of UEW to Tamale, Kumasi and then Accra Technical University (ATU) to the national contest through to the semi-final stage, I will say kudos to the contestants and the coaches of the various schools,” he stated.

While wishing all three schools the very best, Mr Sowa predicted a very hot and competitive final.

“We are very grateful to MTN Ghana, PwC, CompuGhana, GNAT, GLICO Groups, Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) and the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), for the support so far and pray this partnership in delivering such an impactful educational platform will see more growth and influence; the quality of application of academic knowledge to industry and real business world situations,” Mr Sowa stated.